Ronaldo Named In Real Madrid Squad To Face Man United As Mourinho Eyes First Super Cup Trophy

Portuguese international, Cristiano Ronaldo has been included in the Real Madrid’s squad list scheduled for Tuesday’s UEFA Super Cup match against his former team Manchester United in Skopje, despite the FIFA ranked world best player only resuming training at the weekend.

The 32-year-old missed Madrid’s entire International Champions Cup programme in the United States due to an extended summer break resulting from his participation in the Confederations Cup with Portugal in Russia and also his appearance in a Madrid court to defend tax fraud charges brought against him by the Spanish Tax authorities on July 31.

The Madrid forward trained at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Saturday and has been added to Zinedine Zidane’s squad.

Meanwhile, Manchester United Coach José Mourinho is looking forward to claiming the one European trophy he lacks when his side faces Real Madrid on Tuesday.

He said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to play against the best team in Europe, and one thing is to do that in friendly matches in the USA, and it’s quite another to play against them when they are in peak condition and fully motivated”.

“Our players don’t have a wealth of experience of big European matches. This is a new Manchester United, a new generation of players; last season was the Europa League, which was also so important for us in terms of gaining experience, but now we’re returning to the Champions League and to the UEFA Super Cup against the best team in Europe, so it’s a great opportunity,” he added.

On why he has never won a UEFA Super Cup, the Portuguese said: “Every time I’ve contested the UEFA Super Cup, it was as the Europa League winners. When I won the Champions League with Porto, I left Porto. When I won the Champions League with Inter, I left Inter. So I’ve never contested the UEFA Super Cup as the strongest team. It’s the same story this time: I’m taking Manchester United to play against Real Madrid, the Champions League winners. Hopefully this time we can do it.”